# Jokes that, nowadays, need explaining **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** comedian-jokes\ **Created:** [September 25, 2020, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466 "2020-09-25T02:53:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2020, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466/81 "2020-09-26T17:55:26Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > But, more importantly, I could swear I heard, or at least read somewhere, a couple of jokes about durian, nothing to do with pizza though, the gist simply being that they are smelly. So that fruit is or was already the subject of jokes in the US, unless I’m misremembering. Maybe someone like Dennis Miller might make such a joke, but I think 99% of Americans aren’t going to get it. I’m sure I would have to explain what durian was to most people I know. Fresh durian can be had in the US but can be expensive ([$177 for one fruit!](https://miamifruit.org/products/durian-box)). I’m sure anchovies and even Limburger are known to far more people. I had durian when I was in Malaysia, and was kind of disappointed. It was neither as stinky nor as delicious as its reputation. (It is stinky, and it is delicious, just not to the hyperbolic extent some accounts suggest.) ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2020, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466/82 "2020-09-26T18:13:55Z")
I figured it was like using what’s on hand. An Italian restaurant might use them for other dishes, like bagna calda. > **[Bagna Calda (Italian Garlic-Anchovy-Sardine Appetizer)](https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/132646/bagna-calda-italian-garlic-anchovy-sardine-appetizer/)** > > Bagna cauda (or calda) is a rich blend of garlic, anchovies, and sardines. Spread warm on bread, or serve as a dip for an outstanding Italian appetizer. If you stock anchovies to make it already, you can offer it on pizza. Sorry if anybody posted upthread: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/63yyMxlBhZs/maxresdefault.jpg "No Anchovies, Please") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63yyMxlBhZs) ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2020, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466/83 "2020-09-26T18:31:35Z")
There was an old Critic episode from the mid-90’s where somebody needs to buy a gun quickly and they just go to a vending machine to buy one, right next to the crack vending machine. While you can easily say it’s about American gun culture in general I believe the reference was more specifically back in the 1980’s when New York City’s gun laws were far more loose, it might have even been no waiting periods leading to the infamous “Saturday Night Specials” where you could buy a cheap gun from a gun shop for less than $50 and then use it that very same night for something nefarious. Now I think NYC has the tightest gun laws in the entire country (iirc there’s only a single gun shop left in NYC proper) but it’s still weird to see a show depict NYC as having guns that were easily and legally obtainable. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2020, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466/84 "2020-09-26T18:36:07Z")
I thought gun control in New York has always been strict, dating back to the Sullivan Act of 1911. Is there evidence that they were ‘looser’ in the '80s? ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2020, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466/85 "2020-09-26T18:36:11Z")
I think the idea was it was uncommon and strange It kind of reminds me of the cartoon trope that Limburger cheese was extremely stinky. I’ve had limburger cheese, to me it didn’t smell any worse than any other kind of cheese. Where did the idea come from? Probably mostly due to the fact that they knew that less than one percent of the people who watched the cartoon had ever tasted limburger. ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2020, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466/86 "2020-09-26T18:47:08Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > Most of the kids I knew who said they hated anchovies turned out never to have actually had anchovies on a pizza. > [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > To continue the hijack… I find it strange when a place (I’m looking at you Domino’s!) doesn’t have anchovies. Agreeing with both of you. In both my Boston years and upper central Midwest pizza eating years anchovies have been easy to get on 🍕. Not at every place, but usually most local pizzerias have them if you request them. Franchise places less so. I find anchovies on pizza far more explicable than pineapple. Hardest thing is finding another person to share a pie with them on it with you. BTW, I like them in salads too. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2020, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466/87 "2020-09-26T19:03:31Z")
When I worked at Domino’s in the Eighties, anchovies were available. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2020, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466/88 "2020-09-26T19:15:53Z")
Hey, Google, has Domino’s had anchovies? > **[A Complete List Of U.S. Domino's Pizza Locations That Still Offer Anchovies](https://www.foodbeast.com/news/dominos-anchovy-masterlist/#:~:text=Eight%20years%20ago%2C%20I%20tried,and%20a%20parmesan%20garlic%20sauce.&text=Over%20the%20past%20few%20years,polarizing%20ingredient%20from%20the%20menu)** > > Anchovy lovers who struggle finding a Domino's Pizza location that still offers the polarizing topping, here's exactly where to look. Also: an article that addresses the question: “When, however, did anchovy pizza become a joke, shorthand for ‘this person likes weird food?’” > **[What's the Deal With Anchovy Pizza?](https://www.pastemagazine.com/food/anchovy-pizza/whats-the-deal-with-anchovy-pizza/)** > > Anchovy pizza is antiquated, a relic of a bygone era that was destined to fall out of favor. It’s also not bad. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2020, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466/89 "2020-09-26T19:16:28Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > When I worked at Domino’s in the Eighties, anchovies were available I ordered a pizza with anchovies from Vocelli Pizza earlier this month. ---
**Author:** ![Didi44](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47c2d/32.png) [@Didi44](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Didi44)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2020, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466/90 "2020-09-26T19:45:26Z")
Catch-22 Best explained in the movie: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGzR3h67pg8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGzR3h67pg8) In real life. “We can’t hire you because you don’t have enough experience.” But you can’t gain the experience unless someone hires you. Woooooo… Catch-22! ---
**Author:** ![Didi44](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47c2d/32.png) [@Didi44](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Didi44)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2020, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466/91 "2020-09-26T19:52:55Z")
“Catch-22” didn’t mean anything. prior to the book of the same title. In fact, the original manuscript called it “catch-18”. I always took it to mean that there were at least 21 other Catches in addition to 22. But 22 was the best! It’s also the reason Klinger dresses like a woman in M_A_S\*H. He can’t receive a Section 8 because no insane person thinks or will admit they’re crazy. Someone else has to make the declaration. Off-topic. This has always played with my mind. When I go through moments where I think I’m losing it, it must mean that I’m okay. But when I think I’m okay, it could mean I’m insane! ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2020, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466/92 "2020-09-26T20:30:01Z")
Oh, okay. I just wondered if “It’s the best there is!” was a reference to something. Catch-22 is one of my favorite novels. ---
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2020, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466/93 "2020-09-26T20:34:46Z")
> [@Asuka](#): > > There was an old Critic episode from the mid-90’s where somebody needs to buy a gun quickly and they just go to a vending machine to buy one, right next to the crack vending machine. While you can easily say it’s about American gun culture in general I believe the reference was more specifically back in the 1980’s when New York City’s gun laws were far more loose, it might have even been no waiting periods leading to the infamous “Saturday Night Specials” where you could buy a cheap gun from a gun shop for less than $50 and then use it that very same night for something nefarious. Now I think NYC has the tightest gun laws in the entire country (iirc there’s only a single gun shop left in NYC proper) but it’s still weird to see a show depict NYC as having guns that were easily and legally obtainable. That’s just a ‘guns are too easy to buy’ joke, likely by people who favor gun control and either have no idea what actual gun laws are like or desire to paint them as much looser than they are. The US in general hasn’t allowed anything like ‘gun vending machines’ since 1968, when federal law was changed to require all new sales to go through licensed firearms dealer who has to complete certain records. NYC has required a license issued at the discretion of police to possess or purchase a handgun since the Sullivan act in 1911, and NY state has had a similar licensing system since the 1930s. The licenses have to go through an application process, so there’s an inherent waiting period for anyone who hasn’t already gotten one. To make it clear, it hadn’t been legal in NYC to possess (or sell to someone) a handgun without a discretionary police-issued license for seven decades before that episode aired. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2020, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466/94 "2020-09-26T20:49:47Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > The biggest culinary faux pas I ever made in real life was ordering the wrong kind of beer in Germany during Karneval. The waiter got a stony expression on his face, and for a brief moment we weren’t sure he wasn’t going to throw us out of the pub… Haha, you either ordered an Alt in Cologne or a Kölsch in Düsseldorf, didn’t you? Those are normally instant death sentences 😆. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2020, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466/95 "2020-09-26T20:57:34Z")
> [@Pantastic](#): > > > [@Asuka](#): > > > > There was an old Critic episode from the mid-90’s where somebody needs to buy a gun quickly and they just go to a vending machine to buy one, right next to the crack vending machine. While you can easily say it’s about American gun culture in general I believe the reference was more specifically back in the 1980’s when New York City’s gun laws were far more loose, it might have even been no waiting periods leading to the infamous “Saturday Night Specials” where you could buy a cheap gun from a gun shop for less than $50 and then use it that very same night for something nefarious. Now I think NYC has the tightest gun laws in the entire country (iirc there’s only a single gun shop left in NYC proper) but it’s still weird to see a show depict NYC as having guns that were easily and legally obtainable. > > That’s just a ‘guns are too easy to buy’ joke, likely by people who favor gun control and either have no idea what actual gun laws are like or desire to paint them as much looser than they are. The US in general hasn’t allowed anything like ‘gun vending machines’ since 1968, when federal law was changed to require all new sales to go through licensed firearms dealer who has to complete certain records. NYC has required a license issued at the discretion of police to possess or purchase a handgun since the Sullivan act in 1911, and NY state has had a similar licensing system since the 1930s. The licenses have to go through an application process, so there’s an inherent waiting period for anyone who hasn’t already gotten one. > > To make it clear, it hadn’t been legal in NYC to possess (or sell to someone) a handgun without a discretionary police-issued license for seven decades before that episode aired. I think it’s more of the 1970s-1980s trope of New York as being a hellhole of uncontrollable crime and violence. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2020, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466/96 "2020-09-26T21:01:44Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Back in the 50s, there were a lot of jokes about someone turning over an item that they had just purchased, and being dismayed to see that it was stamped “Made in Japan.” Now being made in Japan is a mark of quality and coolness. That first worked backwards when the British ordered cheap German industrial goods to be stamped “Made In Germany” around the 19/20th century turn. It backfired and soon became a trademark for quality. ETA: the German industry in the second half of the 19th century was analogous to the Chinese in our time: industrial espionage, copying, selling cheaply, but getting better in the process and finally producing quality. ---
**Author:** ![razordance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e47774/32.png) [@razordance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/razordance)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2020, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466/97 "2020-09-26T21:04:36Z")
I think that’s based on casu marzu, a real-life Corsican cheese that is served infested with maggots. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2020, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466/98 "2020-09-26T21:07:31Z")
> [@furryman](#): > > I’ve had limburger cheese, to me it didn’t smell any worse than any other kind of cheese. Where did the idea come from? Probably mostly due to the fact that they knew that less than one percent of the people who watched the cartoon had ever tasted limburger. Huh - the last time I smelled Limburger, I was a kid, and it absolutely reeked. I’ll have to check it out again the next time I’m at a cheese counter and see what I think nowadays. ---
**Author:** ![razordance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e47774/32.png) [@razordance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/razordance)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2020, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466/99 "2020-09-26T21:08:29Z")
There’s an old joke that if you eat a Chinese meal, you’re hungry again an hour later. I think that dates from when Chinese food was new here – a Chinese dish containing less meat and more veggies than Americans were used to, so of course it wasn’t as filling as their usual meals. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2020, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466/100 "2020-09-26T21:13:40Z")
> [@furryman](#): > > It kind of reminds me of the cartoon trope that Limburger cheese was extremely stinky. I’ve had limburger cheese, to me it didn’t smell any worse than any other kind of cheese. Where did the idea come from? Actually, because it is very stinky. I’ve had it and it smells like something between a dead mouse and stinky feet. (It tastes a lot better than it smells though.) Seriously, if you don’t think it smells worse than a slice of Swiss, cheddar, or mozzarella, I would consider having your sense of smell checked out medically. Pretty much every reference to it [mentions the cheese’s smell.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limburger) > [@](#): > > Once it reaches three months, the cheese produces its notorious smell because of the [bacterium](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacterium) used to ferment Limburger [cheese](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheese) and many other [smear-ripened cheeses](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smear-ripened_cheese).[[8]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limburger#cite_note-8) This is _[Brevibacterium linens](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brevibacterium_linens)_ , the same one found on human skin that is partially responsible for [body odor](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_odor) and particularly [foot odor](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foot_odor).[[3]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limburger#cite_note-pong-3) > [@](#): > > A study showing that the malaria [mosquito](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosquito) ( _[Anopheles gambiae](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anopheles_gambiae)_ ) is attracted equally to the smell of Limburger and to the smell of human feet earned the [Ig Nobel Prize](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ig_Nobel_Prize) in 2006 in the area of biology.[[14]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limburger#cite_note-Ref_a-14)[[15]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limburger#cite_note-Knols1996-15) The results of the study were published in the medical journal _[The Lancet](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lancet)_ on 9 November 1996. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466.md?page=6)